OKpanda Lands $1.4M From 500 Startups, Mafia Wars & Tapjoy Founders

TechCrunch Oct 21
With the rise of the Mobile Era, a growing number of startups are trying to revolutionize the way we learn languages by giving us access to learning content and translation from anywhere, especially on the go. Like the popular Duolingo, many of these services and apps focus on teaching English, Spanish, German and other romance languages, but few have focused solely on the Asian market — particularly Japan.
That’s how a new startup called OKPanda hopes to stand out from the noise. Co-founded by serial entrepreneur and app developer Adam Gries and Nir Markus, the former co-founder and CTO of popular multiplayer-games-as-a-service startup PlayerDuel, OKPanda wants to help change the way people learn English in Asia, beginning with Japan.
To support its mission, OKPanda has raised $1.4 million in a round led by Resolute Ventures, with participation from firms like Innovation Endeavors, Kapor Capital and 500 Startups. A handful of angel investors also contributed to the startup’s first financing effort, including the founder of Karma and Tapjoy Lee Linden, the former chairman of APAX Asia Max Burger, Producteev founder Ilan Abehassera and Mafia Wars co-founder Roger Dickey.